Humanism as Cluelessness

Professor Robert Edwards, the creator of IVF, was featured recently in a newspaper profile. The results demonstrate--as we have discussed here previously about James Watson--that being a brilliant scientist does not necessarily translate into the ability to engage in sound moral reasoning. IVF has a mixed record, in my view--particularly how it has led directly to some of the greatest bioethical controversies of our day. But that issue aside, this quote from Edwards seems ridiculous to me:

"I am a humanist. A humanist believes nobody knows the truth. I don't criticise. We will look after people, and I look after animals. I became vegetarian ten years ago because I don't want to eat animals."

If it has a face, don't eat it is fine. But to to believe that nobody knows the truth is to say that the truth cannot be known. To say I don't criticize is to say that I am hopelessly relativistic.

Anyway, I'm not buying. What Edwards really means, I suspect, is that there are certain views, e.g., those on the radical edge, that he won't criticize. I would bet a bunch, however, that his attitude toward those holding and standing up for traditional values or morality would not receive such a benign shrug of the humanist shoulder.